Thinkering Studio - Sample Proposal 8th

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Guitar Effect Pedal Project Proposal


Title:
 Bear Bonz Pedal Factory
Member(s):
 Bear
Challenge:
 To be able to make fx pedals I want to use (that sound good to me) with my guitar
Learning:
  • Basic electronics
  • How to solder and learn about the circuitry in the pedal
  • What makes pedals sound different? (Why do pedals with the same names sound different? What is the difference electronically between pedals: Boost, Distortion, Fuzz, Overdrive, etc.
  • "Addresses an authentic question, challenge, or task"
  • "Material becomes a part of a larger community outside of BCS" - Post questions, suggestions to pedal building forums
Materials:
 Tools
  • 30+ Soldering iron
  • Flushed-edged Wire cutter
  • Needle-nose pliers
  • Wire stripper
  • Desoldering pump
  • Helping hand
  • Light

Materials
  • Stomp box kit or stomp box parts
  • Breadboard
  • mono input jacks
  • 9-volt battery
  • 24-gauge hookup wire
  • Rosin-core solder
Main Steps:
  • Research soldering, circuits, pedal building
  • Gather tools
  • Scrounge or order parts
  • Learn how to solder
  • Make a pedal from a kit
  • Document process and publish tutorial using Explain Everything
  • Make a bread board to prototype pedals
  • Make a pedal from one of my prototypes
  • Document process and publish a tutorial using Explain Everything
  • ??? Start a small business making prototype boards? - Since the Beavis board is unavailable
  • Next year - Design my own pcb board - Eagle PCB Design
  • Ongoing - Post questions, suggestions to pedal building forums
Time:
 2 months - using Engage and Thinkering Studio class time
Resources:
Difficulties:
 What parts of this project might be difficult? How do you expect to handle them?
  • Currently I only know a little about electronics.
    • I will research words I don't know while I work
  • Currently I don't know how to solder.
    • I have videos and books that can teach me. My father and teacher can check my work.
  • Currently I only know a little about pedals.
    • I will use my distortion pedal at home and I will test other pedals at the guitar stores
Sharing:
  • Guitar Pedal Building Glossary
  • Explain Everything tutorial w/ audio and photos
  • Posts to pedal building forums
  • Make pedal bread boards for others if they want to order one
Evaluation:
  • Basic electronics
    • 1 - learn enough electronics to make pedals work
    • 2 - learn enough electronics to add words and definitions to glossary
    • 3 - add multimodal elements to glossary to better explain them
  • How to solder and learn about the circuitry in the pedal
    • 1 - solder joints work - pedals work
    • 2 - solder joints work and are of high quality (to work better and last longer) - can draw schematics of my pedals
    • 3 - can help others learn to solder - can explain what a pedal would do by looking at schematics
  • What makes pedals sound different? (Why do pedals with the same names sound different? What is the difference electronically between pedals: Boost, Distortion, Fuzz, Overdrive, etc.
    • 1 - can describe differences in sound between pedals
    • 2 - can describe why the electronics make a boost/fuzz/distortion sound like they do
    • 3 - can make pedals that sound the way I do
  • "Addresses an authentic question, challenge, or task"
    • 1 - Use a challenge someone else came up with
    • 2 - Picked a challenge that was authentic to me, but needed help wording it
    • 3 - Picked a challenge that was authentic to myself, changed the wording as my plans changed and I learned more
  • "Material becomes a part of a larger community outside of BCS"
    • 1 - Posted questions others answered on pedal building forums
    • 2 - Posted answers/suggestions to other's questions
    • 3 - Made a pedal design or building suggestion that others appreciated